Fiona Banner’s Massive Fighter Plane Installations

In 2010 Fionna Banner installed Harrier And Jaguar at the Tate Britain. The massive installation juxtaposed real fighter planes inside the neo-classical gallery spaces. Weapons of mass destruction have never looked so good.

“According to Fiona Banner, Harrier and Jaguar are “ambiguous objects implying both captured beast and fallen trophy”. While the Sea Harrier was transformed into a “captive bird”, with feathered markings on its surface similar to the Harrier Hawk, the Jaguar lay belly-up on the floor with posture suggestive of a submissive animal”- Urban Ghosts

“We all hate war but these objects inspire a strange enthusiasm in us. When you reflect on their beauty it’s a strange thing, people say surely they are designed with an aesthetic in mind and, of course, they’re not. They are absolutely designed to function and that function is to kill, and that says something questionable about our aesthetic judgement and makes us ask questions about our moral position.” – Fionna Banner as told to The Guardian